In Need of Rescue
by RogueRavenclaw99
Summary: After the Locust War, the citizens of Anvil Gate still have a massive problem with the Stranded. When Delta Squad is called in to help, things go south pretty quickly when one of their own is severely wounded. Can they make it back in time to save the one they love, or will it be too late?


**Alright, time to try my hand at a one off story! I wanted to write another **_**Gears of War **_**story, but I couldn't think of any ideas that could be made into multi chapter stories, so instead, I decided to try to write my very first one shot story. This will take place about two months after the end of **_**Gears of War 3**_**, and is centered around Anya and Marcus. Enjoy!**

The war was over. The Locust and Lambent had been stopped. There should have been no more pain. But there was.

* * *

"Anya, stay with me!" Marcus Fenix begged the woman he was holding in his arms. His hands were covered in blood from her wounds, but all he cared about was her.

Anya Stroud was being held in Marcus' strong arms, struggling to breath. Marcus looked at her and said, "Come on, I can't lose you too damn it!"

"It'll be alright Marcus," Anya said, struggling to get the words out.

* * *

_Marcus and Anya were walking through the woods bordering Anvil Gate, patrolling and looking out for Stranded. Even though the Locust and Lambent had died, that didn't necessarily mean that the war was over. _

_The Stranded were still absolutely furious that the COG had sacrificed so many people in the Locust War, and had pledged a war on them themselves. _

_Because the Stranded had nowhere near as many soldiers as the COG did, they didn't wage a full out war, but instead attacked civilians and Gears on multiple occasions. _

_Colonel Hoffman, not wanting to lose anymore lives to war, had decided that Gears would be patrolling the borders of Anvil Gate at all times, and would be paired up in groups of two so that they would be able to help each other out with extra firepower._

_Hoffman had radioed Azura and asked for extra support, and Delta Squad had immediately volunteered. They all wanted to deal with the Stranded problem, and it would be an opportunity to see Bernadette Mataki and Hoffman again._

* * *

"Anya, damn it, speak to me!" Marcus yelled, shaking the Lieutenant's body.

"Out," Anya said quietly, moving her arm to the wound on her stomach.

Marcus immediately what she meant and moved her arm away, addressing the bullet wound.

Anya closed her eyes and Marcus shook her again. "Anya, you need to stay awake!" Marcus yelled at her.

Anya blinked her eyes slowly and gasped in pain as Marcus put his hand in the bullet wound to find the bullet.

"Just a little bit longer Anya," Marcus said, continuing to search for the bullet. Because the small piece of metal had not shown itself yet, Marcus had to use his second hand to steady Anya's body and continue searching.

Anya closed her eyes again and Marcus yelled at her, "Stay with me Anya! Stay with me!"

* * *

_After greetings were said and done, Dizzy left the group to be with his two daughters, Marilyn and Teresa._

_Hoffman told Delta Squad about the Stranded situation, and Baird responded, "This is just great! We already lost countless lives to the Grubs, and now these assholes are making us lose even more!"_

"_Calm down Blondie," Bernie told him. "We already have an idea. We're going to have Gears patrolling around here at all times. If any Stranded show up, either take them prisoner, or treat them as hostile."_

"_Whatever you say Grannie," Baird responded._

"_Here's the schedule," Hoffman told them, showing the Gears a clipboard with a piece of paper attached to it. "We already have our own men out there now, but once the sun sets, the next shift starts. Baird and Byrne, you'll be taking the South side."_

"_Fantastic," Sam replied sarcastically. _

"_Carmine and Stratton, you'll take the West side, and Fenix and Stroud will take the East side. Any complaints?"_

_Nobody spoke up, so Hoffman said, "Bernie will take you to the barracks."_

* * *

Anya had closed her eyes yet again, and Marcus shook her body. He knew he was shaking her a bit violently, but he didn't care. He just wanted her to stay with him. "Anya, dammit, wake up! You are not going to die! Not today, goddamnit!"

He continued to dig around until he eventually pulled out the small piece of metal coated in blood. He held the bullet close to Anya with his blood soaked hands and said, "Anya, I got it out. Now wake up!"

Anya was still breathing, but her breaths had become very slow and faint. "Anya, dammit, wake up!"

Anya blinked her eyes slowly and saw the bullet in Marcus' hands. She smiled at him and closed her eyes yet again.

Marcus shook her pale body, not wanting the Lieutenant to go into shock. "Please stay awake Anya," he said under his breath.

* * *

_Once the sun had set, Delta Squad left each other and went out on patrol at their designated areas. Anya walked with Marcus, her shotgun in hand, watching the stars. "Isn't it lovely Marcus?" she asked him. _

_Marcus said nothing but grunted, and in Marcus-speak, that was a yes. "It's nice to be able to watch the night sky without worrying about an E-hole coming up."_

_Marcus nodded his head, and Anya continued staring out into the woods. "I've always loved forests like this," Anya told Marcus. "I grew up near a forest at my family's estate. I used to play there with my mother when I was younger."_

_Marcus then stopped walking, and Anya stared at him. "Marcus?" she asked. "Are you okay?"_

"_Shh," Marcus shushed quietly. "Quiet."_

_Anya then stopped talking and heard exactly what Marcus had heard: rustling in the trees. "Get down," he whispered as quietly as possible. _

_He and Anya both ducked behind a bush just as a single shot from a Longshot echoed through their part of the woods._

_Marcus popped his head up briefly to see if he could trace where the bullet came from, but ducked back down in defeat. "I can't see where the sniper is, but I can guarantee he isn't here alone," Marcus told Anya. _

_Anya nodded and said, "I'll go left and you go right. Try to flush them out."_

"_Splitting up is a great way for us both to get shot. One of us should go out and the other stay back as backup."_

_Anya nodded and immediately moved out of cover. "Not what I meant," Marcus grumbled as he pulled out his lancer._

_Anya looked around her surroundings and saw nothing, but she could still hear the leaves rustling around her._

_Marcus watched in front of Anya and saw for a brief second that a head had popped up to the left of her. "Anya!" Marcus exclaimed as another Longshot bullet was fired. _

_Marcus immediately shot at the head that had popped up, but whoever it belonged to was smart enough to duck and run away. _

_Marcus looked at Anya and watched in horror as she fell to the ground, her stomach covered in blood. _

_He immediately ran to her side and lifted her head. "We need to get you out of here," Marcus said, scooping her body up in his massive arms. He held his pistol in one hand and carried Anya away from the commotion. _

_He stopped when he saw a fallen tree and ducked behind it as he heard bullets whizzing by his head. He set Anya down as gently as possible on the ground and turned on his radio. "Control, this is Delta One. We've got hostile Stranded here and Anya has been shot."_

_Static echoed in Marcus' ear and he said, "Shit, they can't hear us. Radio's are down."_

"_We need to clear them out," Anya said, struggling to get the words out. _

"_Stay here," Marcus told her, pulling some fallen branches around her body._

* * *

"Anya, speak to me!" Marcus shouted, shaking her body. Her breathing had slowed significantly and her skin had become ghost white.

Marcus turned his radio on again and said, "Control, this is Delta One."

When there was no answer, he said, "Control!"

A woman's voice echoed into his ear and said, "We hear you Sergeant. What is your position?"

"We have wounded here in the East side of the forest. We need an evac."

"We can get a Packhorse to you in ten minutes."

"We don't have ten minutes! Lieutenant Stroud has lost a lot of blood! She won't make it another ten minutes!"

"How far out are you two?"

"About five miles out. We've stayed on the East side and are hidden behind a tree that fell down."

"Roger that Sergeant. The soonest we can get you an evac is about eight minutes."

"We don't have eight minutes! We need an evac ASAP!"

Hoffman's vice then echoed through Marcus' ear. "Fenix, what happened?"

"We had hostile Stranded and Anya took a Longshot bullet to the stomach. She's been bleeding out slowly for about twenty minutes. We need an evac."

Anya then started gasping suddenly and Marcus knelt down next to her and said, "Anya, breath dammit!"

"Fenix?" Hoffman asked over the radio. "What's going on?"

Anya continued gasping and Marcus shook her body a bit too violently. "Snap out if it goddamnit!" Marcus yelled at her.

* * *

"_I'll be back in a few minutes," Marcus told Anya. "I just need to take care of our visitors."_

_Anya nodded and closed her eyes, but Marcus told her, "Stay awake as long as you can Anya."_

_Anya opened her eyes and nodded, letting Marcus leave. _

_Marcus looked around and saw that the bullets had stopped flying. He took that as a good sign and scaled a tree to get a better view. _

_He immediately saw the sniper crouched behind a bush, his gun pointed just out of the bush and his scope just on top. Before getting ready, though, Marcus counted that there were three others with the sniper. _

_Marcus settled himself in the tree and pulled out his lancer. Not wanting to waste a bullet and give away his position, Marcus carefully aimed at the sniper and pulled the trigger, putting about five bullets into the man's head. _

_The sniper fell to the ground and Marcus heard shouting, so he immediately climbed higher up. He saw the tree next to him had branches at about the same height and, taking a deep breath, jumped to the next tree. _

_Unfortunately, Marcus misjudged his jump and fell about twenty feet before landing hard on his feet. The leaves of the trees had done their best to slow down the fall, but when he got up, Marcus felt a shooting pain in his left foot._

_Ignoring the pain, he moved as fast as he could towards voices he heard yelling. He immediately saw one of the men and pulled the trigger of his lancer, with the bullet flying into the man's chest. _

_The man fell to the ground with a thud, and Marcus heard more gunfire as bullets barely flew past his head. He struggled to get into cover behind a tree, but once it was done, he looked to see where the bullets were coming from. _

_Marcus saw a man who couldn't be older than thirty holding a lancer, aimed exactly at the tree Marcus was hiding behind. He knew that if he moved at all, the man would shoot him, but he needed to take this guy out so he could get back to Anya. _

_He thought about all his options when he heard a gunshot. He looked over and saw the man fall over, blood coming from his forehead. _

_Marcus looked over at where Anya was hiding and saw her sitting up, aiming her pistol at the man. She smiled at him and immediately fell to the ground. _

_Marcus ran over to her as fast as his foot would carry him. He saw she was much more pale then when he left her, and was struggling to breath. _

_Marcus grabbed her chest and undid her armor as fast as he could. He did some quick chest compressions until she could breath steadily again, and he looked at her bullet wound. "Stay with me Anya," Marcus said._

* * *

"Fenix, what the hell is happening?" Hoffman asked over the radio.

Marcus looked at Anya's body, while she was still gasping for air. Marcus turned off his radio and told Anya, "We need to get you back to base. By the time the evac gets here…" he trailed off, not wanting to say it.

With a shaking hand, Anya pointed to Marcus' injured foot, to which he replied, "I'll be fine. Now let's go."

Marcus scooped Anya up in his massive arms and, struggling to move, ran as fast as he could back towards the base.

Marcus ran for what felt like miles until he could see the lights of Anvil Gate. His ankle had swollen up significantly and was hurting him with each step.

He saw a person running out to them but didn't stay awake long enough to see who it was as he passed out from the pain.

* * *

Marcus shot up in bed later on. He noticed he was in Anvil Gate's hospital, and immediately remembered why he was there. "Anya!" he exclaimed.

He attempted to get up but winced in pain as he looked at his left ankle. It was less swollen than when he had arrived there, but by no means was it healed.

"She's fine honey," Bernie told him, walking into the room. "Vic's with her right now."

"What happened?"

"You carried her here from wherever you two were patrolling. She wouldn't have made it if you had waited for that evac. But the doctor said she'd be fine and just needs bed rest. As for you, you twisted your ankle pretty bad. Care to tell me how that happened?"

"Fell out of a tree," Marcus mumbled under his breath.

"Sorry, didn't quite catch that. My hearing isn't what it used to be after all."

"I fell out of a goddamn tree, alright?!"

Bernie chuckled at him and said, "You're lucky you just sprained it, then. That fall should have dislocated your ankle entirely."

"Yay me," Marcus said sarcastically. He moved to get up and said, "I'm gonna go visit Anya."

"No you're not," Bernie said sternly. "Hayman will kill both of us if she finds out I let you get out of bed."

"Too bad. I'm going to see Anya."

Marcus then got out of the bed and winced slightly as he put weight on his left leg. He ignored the pain and continued limping from room to room, trying to see which one Anya was in.

He finally found her in Room Nine, and saw that her eyes were closed. "No!" Marcus shouted at Anya's body.

"Relax Sergeant," a woman said behind him. Marcus turned and saw it was Dr. Hayman, who was glaring at him.

"Last time I checked, Sergeant, you were supposed to be in bed healing that ankle," Hayman scolded him.

"I needed to see Anya," Marcus told her. "Bad ankle or no bad ankle."

"Well, she's fine. It's honestly a miracle she's alright. If you had been a minute later, she would have bled out. She fell asleep about two minutes after we started fixing her. She'll be just fine."

Anya stirred a bit in her bed and opened her eyes. "Marcus?" she asked, looking around the room.

"I'm right here," Marcus said, sitting on the couch next to the bed. "How do you feel?"

"Like I was shot in the stomach," Anya replied.

Marcus' mouth twitched slightly and Anya realized that was the closest thing she would get to a smile from him. "Hayman says you'll be fine," Marcus informed her.

"Thank you Marcus. You saved my life."

"Of course."

"Marcus, there's something I've wanted to tell you since before E-Day."

"What?"

"I love you."

Marcus became completely silent at this remark and Anya continued, "I've loved you since the Pendulum War. I could never find the courage to say it, but after almost dying today, I think I should finally admit it."

Marcus said nothing but instead pulled her in for a deep and passionate kiss. Anya was surprised by this at first, but then gladly continued until they both pulled away.

"I feel the same way," Marcus told her.

THE END

**This story was a lot of fun to write. I've read lots of** _**Gears of War**_ **fanfictions that had one character dying and the other attempting to rescue them, and I think my attempt to write one turned out pretty good. Thank you for reading and hopefully enjoying this story. I hope you had as much fun reading it as I did writing it. **


End file.
